Tracey Thorn - Night Time EP

Tracey Thorn - Night Time EPNight Time sees Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn working together again for the first time in ages. The result is a cover of The xx track of that name, one that was originally slated to appear on a covers album of the Mercury Prize-winning Londoners' debut record (the project was eventually shelved). But while it's catch-your-breath beautiful, exhibiting the same sparse beauty of the original, it's the three dance floor-oriented reworkings of Thorn's own "Swimming" that will most grab the attention of RA readers.

First up, Thorn's long-term producer and crack remixer in his own right, Ewan Pearson, re-edits last year's Visionquest remix of "Swimming" (do two remixes make an unremix?). The result is nine minutes of panoramic, slow-burning, twinkling, downtempo house. Two more "Swimming" reworkings come courtesy of stalwart Sheffield house producer Charles Webster. The remix is an elegant, chugging slice of linear deep house, replete with tick-tock beats and daubs of mournful keys. The airy dub drifts off into a cotton wool world of woozy percussion and minimal snatches of analogue keys, Thorn's vocal now little more than a ghostly hint in places, tumbling to the floor like autumn leaves.